I like the CWBA because they have set realistic and progressive policy goals with the aim of creating a movement to get those goals achieved. Cornel West asks in his blog on the site:
Our fundamental aim is to create an effective and a compassionate movement—of courageous leaders and creative organizations—that let justice run down like water that flows from a genuine love for and service to others. The sacrificial spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., must flourish in institutional forms and individual lives. But can this moment sustain a grass-roots momentum that truly creates a lasting shift in our priorities from well-financed prisons to quality schools, extravagant CEO salaries to workers’ living wages, high-tech cosmetic surgeries to universal healthcare, and fancy strip clubs to formidable civic associations?
I certainly hope it can, and if progressives everywhere support the CWBA movement, it may have the chance that it needs.
Update: I suppose I didn't really include HOW you can support the CWBA. You can buy their books and read them. One of the most impressive achievements of the CWBA and Tavis Smiley, in my opinion, was to take a book of progressive policy prescriptions and make it a huge bestseller. Add that the CWBA was the first bestseller to be produced by a black publisher, and the achievement becomes even more amazing. The book is low priced and gives white progressives such as a myself a window into the issues that matter to blacks in America. After reading the book it becomes clear that we are all fighting the same battles, for many of the same reasons, but usually from different perspectives.
2 comments:
Interesting that Prof. West blasted Obama for announcing his candidacy in front of a statue of Lincoln in Illinois, instead of participating in this year's SOBU convention.
Yes, and this is a conflict that will become apparent as the race goes on. Some pundits have said "Obama is running as a American, who happens to be Black". Many in the black community want to see him run as a black American, and my guess is that the Prof. is included.
Obama's whole speech was strange to me. It seemed very focused on the general election. Thing is, he cannot discount the primary votes of blacks who want more from him. I think he blew a chance to be part of something amazing at the SOBU, and to pretty much cement his progressive credentials in the minds of both blacks and whites.
Either way, a very unfortunate scheduling conflict. The SOBU could have gotten more coverage had Obama not announced, thats for sure.
Post a Comment